Page 104 of No Darker Temptation

“I know but it’s just so fun,” Diego whines. “Look, he’s blushing. Oscar never blushes. It’s so entertaining.”

I type a quick response to Dahlia, sparing Oscar the humiliation of looking back no matter how tempted I am.

Abuelo is okay. Lettie is going to stay with him the rest of the week <3 She’s going to stop by later tonight to pick up some clothes, she wanted to make sure he was settled first.

Let me know if you’re coming home tonight? I’ll make dinner 😊

And by “make” I mean heat up whatever you have leftover in the fridge

I love youuuuuu

As a matter of fact, we finished early

Be home in fifteen

I can’t wait to see you

I wait a second but the messages don’t get delivered. They stay on sent and the status never changes. Dahlia leaves her read receipts on so I always know when she’s seen one of my texts.

I turn in my seat. “Ask Pedro if⁠—”

Oscar flies forward and grabs the back of Diego’s seat in a movement so swift it sends a shock of alarm through me. “Pedro! What the Hell was that sound?”

“What’s wrong?”

Oscar looks at Diego. “Head straight for the lounge. Now! Step on it.”

Diego doesn’t ask questions. He hits the gas and bypasses half a dozen furious honking cars and nearly hits a pedestrian trying to cross the street.

“Pedro?” Oscar says again. “Pedro!”

I do my best to stay calm but I’ve never seen Oscar react this way. Not in all the years I’ve known him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I…I heard something.” He lifts his head. “It sounded like an explosion.”

By the time we get to the lounge, El Aliciente is up in flames.

Dark clouds of smoke float through shattered windows and out the front doors. The fire department is already here and I watch as they shuffle around the block in their big, bulky uniforms, spraying water and trying to find a different point of entry. The front awning has collapsed, the roof is charred and crumbling in on itself, and another explosion causes the windows upstairs to crack and splinter, littering the sidewalk with a dusting of pebbled glass.

No.

God please. Not this.

Not Dad’s place.

Oscar runs out of the car and straight toward the building but I stop to look around. It’s taking every ounce of composure in my body to remain calm as I scan the street in search of Dahlia. Oscar assumes Pedro must’ve been inside the lounge or nearby judging by the sound of the explosion when they were on the phone. But that leaves Dahlia unaccounted for. She isn’t answering her phone and Oscar doesn’t know if Dahlia was inside the building or not, only that the alarm system was triggered because someone forgot to close the back door properly.

Did she close the back door from inside the building or outside? Where did she go after?

Where is she?

Pedro’s car is parked on the curb and I bolt across the street to look inside but it’s empty. I spin on the balls of my feet and look around but I can’t think straight over all the noise, can’t see clearly beyond the flashing lights.

“Dahlia!” I call out. “Dahlia!”

A group of firefighters exit the building, one of whom is carrying someone wrapped up in a dark blanket, and the other two are holding Pedro upright as he drags his feet behind him, coughing and spitting up blood.

“Oh my God,” I hear Oscar say. “Oh my God.”